How to be an Unhappy Employee

I found this gem by Scott Adams (writer of all things [Dilbert](http://www.dilbert.com “Dilbert - Scott Adams”)) on the Dilbert newsletter when launching his new [blog](http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/ “dilbertblog”), and it made me think about myself and my recent difficulties coming to terms with why I have a blog…

“*When I see news stories about people all over the world who are experiencing hardships, I worry about them, and I rack my brain wondering how I can make a difference. So I decided to start my own blog. That way I won’t have time to think about other people.*

*People who are trying to decide whether to create a blog or not go through a thought process much like this:*

1. *The world sure needs more of ME.*
2. *Maybe I’ll shout more often so that people nearby can experience the joy of knowing my thoughts.*
3. *No, wait, shouting looks too crazy.*
4. *I know - I’ll write down my daily thoughts and badger people to read them.*
5. *If only there was a description for this process that doesn’t involve the words egomaniac or unnecessary.*
6. *What? It’s called a blog? I’m there!*

*The blogger’s philosophy goes something like this:*

*Everything that I think about is more fascinating than the crap in your head.*

*The beauty of blogging, as compared to writing a book, is that no editor will be interfering with my random spelling and grammar, my complete disregard for the facts, and my wandering sentences that seem to go on and on and never end so that you feel like you need to take a breath and clear your head before you can even consider making it to the end of the sentence that probably didn’t need to be written anyhoo.*”

Chris (the programmer) who turned me on to the hipsterPDA, has moded my mod for the hipster. Where I introduced him to the preprinted post-it note solution, he has hacked it even further to save himself the time and hassle of printing them. He’s just hand-writing them. It’s actually a good hack and definitely reflects his [slacker mentality](http://www.uhduh.com/archives/2005/hello-my-name-is-chris-and-im-a-slacker “Read up on his slackerness”). I’d show you a picture, but he’s such a slacker he never sent it to me.

As a Chicagoland native and a White Sox fan, I would be remise if I did not find some way to force a sports analogy specifically about the Sox onto this site. I’ve thought about it for a while, and I’ve found an opening, so I’m pushing forward. If I miss the mark, forgive me and check back for the next story. But if you can follow my logic you might learn something or at least remember something you already knew.

For those of you who are not familiar with professional baseball, the White Sox have not been to a World Series in 46 years, and they haven’t won in 88 years. A long time to be sure, if you consider the New York Yankees have been to 6 in the last 10 years and won 4 of them. But I digress. This year seems to be the magical year for the White Sox. But as they are in the World Series for the first time in 46 years, and if they can win 4 out of 7 against the Astros they will win their first World Series in what seems like an eternity, it hasn’t been the easiest road.

Their season was sailing along, until suddenly they hit a slump … a major slump. Just as it seemed they would coast into the playoffs, they started losing and watched as their 15 game lead drop to 1.5. This may not seem like much to most sports fans, but for Sox fans, we’ve gotten used to last minute collapses from our teams. But the more important thing is that (for once in my life) they did not lose their cool. They did not turn on each other and point fingers. They did not continue to fall apart.

For the White Sox, when things started to go badly, the manager (Ozzie Guillen) continued to support his players and encouraged his players to support each other. Anything less would not be tollerated. Communication increased on all levels. they communicated the vision and reiterated that which had gotten them to the 15-game lead. They continued their winning attitudes even when they were losing.

I wish that we could say the same thing in business. But it is more likely that when things hit the skids at work we look to blame someone. It’s likely to be someone we don’t identify with or whomever seems to be the easiest target. Communication all but stops. This does only one thing … magnifies the downturn.

Today, they’ve finished strong and have gotten tougher and stronger throughout the playoffs. Consider this when things don’t seem to be going so smoothly at work. Support each other. At the very least, it makes you look good. But maybe it will return the company to its winning ways and you’ll benefit.

So keep your fingers crossed for my White Sox. It’ll be a nice capper to this post.